.

Welcome to the Orthodox Stitcher! Here you will find original, handcrafted cross stitch designs created with the Orthodox Christian in mind. The Orthodox Stitcher is an extension of Fearn Abbey Needleworks, where you will find more original cross stitch designs coming to you from the beautiful Northern Highlands of Scotland. My hope for The Orthodox Stitcher is that this will be a unique and blessed place for Orthodox Christians ~ and indeed, anyone who feels called to visit and stay awhile ~ to develop their creative side, and to honor God. Glory to God for all things!

PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY TO AFR

Much of the art and design you see on this blog is a labor of love and given to you absolutely free. It is my attempt to glorify God and share Christ with those who visit. If you particularly feel called to generosity, though, and wish to give money for anything you take or share, please make your donation to Ancient Faith Radio. AFR is an internet-based Orthodox ministry which is worldwide. They offer 24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year talk radio, music radio, podcasts, and blogs, all by and for Orthodox Christians, and for those interested in Orthodoxy. You can visit them HERE. And you can donate right on this blog via Paypal! Thank you so much for giving generously.

Please Give Generously to AFR

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

I owe you an explanation for why I am missing. I am fighting a very debilitating and exhausting illness: MYASTHENIA GRAVIS. It is kicking my butt. On top of that, I have "leaky gut", poisoning from Omeprazole (the useless NHS left me on it for over 5 years), and I'm still menopausal. So there it is. I still plan to do this project. I LOVE this project. Please bear with me. I will come back as soon as I have some strength.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Hello my friends! I have been busy stitching a pillow for a dear priest who is going to give it as a Baptism gift. It has the Theotokos on it, and I'm dying to show it to you... actually uploaded a photo... and then thought, "What if the recipient were to stumble across it on my blog before she received it?" So, I shall wait a wee while before I post the photo.

Meanwhile, I am stitching Maxim 3, trying to live very much in the moment as we start Great Lent, and planning a variety of other projects. Cross stitch items are strewn about the living room at the moment, but I am gaining slowly on my organization.

Wishing you all a blessed Lent, and I will be back shortly with Maxim Number Three!

Saturday, February 6, 2016

I know it took me ages... I hope you will all forgive me. Things really derailed after July, but I think we are getting back to "normal". Here is Maxim No. 2, complete with lilacs!

This Maxim has been so extremely helpful for my husband and me over the past half year or so. Sometimes I think if we struggle to pray as we think we ought, we stop praying. This Maxim kept us in prayer during some difficult times. We might not have been model Orthodox, standing for long periods in our prayer corner, but we kept the Faith and kept in prayer as best we could.

I hope you will enjoy stitching this design. I am working on Maxim 3 currently, so it is my fervent hope (I'm afraid to promise or guarantee anything -- which fact is certainly keeping me humble!) that it will be posted very soon.

You can download the 4-page PDF file HERE, and it is complete with a photo and two charts. Please also feel free to email me if you have any questions about the chart.

Monday, February 1, 2016

I have... at long last... finished Maxim No. 2, and am now working on No. 3! I might have been down, but I'm not out for the count just yet! All that needs done now is to press and finish this, take a better photo, and upload your chart. Hopefully I will have it ready for you by tomorrow.

The past 6 months...well, they have been a challenge, in many ways. There have been changes, losses, grief, all kinds of things. Seasons of life. Exhaustion.

I am currently hobbling around with a stress fracture in my foot and a big, cumbersome "walking boot" to help it heal. Never mind... it will all come right. Also, I am working to refocus and recharge my stitching and artwork. Fearn Abbey Needleworks has a few new designs coming out shortly, and this project is up and running again.

Please pray that I would stay strong, focused, and consistent!

Blessings to you all, and BIG thank you's to those of you who have been so supportive and patient!

Monday, August 24, 2015

Dear friends :: I am still here! It seems to have been an avalanche of unplanned things over the past month or so. I'm afraid I haven't picked up a needle in a week or so. I wish to apologize for leaving you hanging.

I want to thank you for your prayers for my dear friend's husband. He died on July 25th. I would ask your continued prayers for his dear wife and my dear friend, Pam.

Even in the midst of this somewhat fragmented time, God is SO good, and SO merciful, and SO faithful. And I am grateful.

My goal is to be back in full swing by the first week in September, providing you with designs and downloads again. It's all going forward...just a tiny bit stalled at the moment. Please forgive me!

Friday, July 24, 2015

Sometimes, the best-laid plans... and all that. Friends, I pray you will forgive me as I have a bit of a stall right now. So much is happening at once: redoing a spare room, struggling with an obstinate lamb (would you believe Doodle is being a bad lamby?), still recovering from our recent trip (more on that below), and a biggie in my mind at the moment -- my dear husband's pacemaker replacement procedure which is coming up on Monday. Things are getting left undone, I'm afraid.

The two main things, of course, are my husband, and this past trip. This past trip was really a last-minute thing which surfaced as the result of my dear friend's husband having terminal cancer. We have been friends for 34 years (we met as college roommates), and she just means so much to me. She and her husband decided it was TIME that we all got together. Neither of them had even met my husband, and I had not seen her in 15 years. They bought our plane tickets. We are so grateful we could go. Now, though, it is touch and go, and I am speaking to her on the phone almost daily, as we wait and pray.

I covet your prayers, dear friends: for my husband and the success and ease of his pacemaker replacement. And for my friend and her husband. Please remember Ian (my husband) and Randy (her husband) in your prayers. Thank you!

And now... here is a printable for you. It is of the second maxim, and it is available as aPDF or as a JPG image. This image is sized optimally for 5" X 7".

Finally, and wonderfully... I wish to welcome Matushka Anne Hopko, Fr Thomas's wife, who is stitching along with us! It has been an absolute joy to meet her, and her presence adds a wonderful dimension to this project. Dear Matushka Anne, I thank you for joining us, and I thank you for your encouragement.

Printfriendly

Welcome!

I'm Stacey, and I'm an Orthodox Christian, American expat, living in the Scottish Highlands, with my Orthodox Scots husband. Life for me is about the Faith, stitching, and sheep. And a lot more! Find out about it by clicking the photo!